As He Hua pondered this, Yan Luoxu, who had killed the pair the night before, was leaving Fengling Town, following a carriage.
An hour later.
The wind chime hanging in front of the bookstore door rang.
He Hua instinctively looked up and saw He Sui’an walking in. She stood up to greet her.
The young girl had her hair tied up in a simple bun, wearing a light green ruqun with a simple yet beautiful knot at the waist, highlighting her slender figure. Her unadorned face had a slight abrasion.
He Hua opened her mouth silently.
She pointed to He Sui’an’s face, asking what had happened.
He Sui’an avoided He Hua’s gaze without reason. “I accidentally bumped into something yesterday and got a scrape. It’ll be fine in a few days. It’s nothing, Miss He Hua, don’t worry about me.”
Seeing that she didn’t want to talk about it, He Hua didn’t press further.
He Hua then expressed her happiness that He Sui’an had come to the bookstore again.
“Miss He Hua, I asked you before what your relationship with King Yan, Yan Wuheng, was. You said you had no relationship with him. Is that really true?” He Sui’an finally voiced her question.
Although He Hua didn’t understand why He Sui’an was asking this question again today, as if she had come to the bookstore specifically to ask this, she patiently went back to the table and wrote out her answer with pen and ink.
She wrote: “I am indeed just an insignificant person to him. What’s the matter?”
Her handwriting was as beautiful as ever.
The question seemed to leap off the paper.
He Sui’an didn’t feel that He Hua was deceiving her; it’s hard to lie through one’s eyes. He Hua’s gaze remained gentle and kind, with a hint of puzzled curiosity about the matter.
Could it be that this He Hua was not the same He Hua?
That didn’t make sense either. If this He Hua were different, how could she know so much about King Yan, Yan Wuheng, and be so certain that it was all true without any fabrication?
He Sui’an glanced outside the bookstore before turning back: “You said a few days ago that if I finished reading these books and wanted to know more about him, you would tell me why you know so much about him.”
He Hua smiled slightly.
She wrote down the simplified version of her life story for He Sui’an.
Even though they hadn’t known each other long and could count their meetings on one hand, He Hua wanted to trust He Sui’an. She believed He Sui’an wouldn’t harm her or view her with strange eyes.
Longevity might cause envy.
But it could also make people see He Hua as a monster.
People like to call rare things strange, and rare people monsters or oddities. This was why He Hua couldn’t stay in one place for too long—it drew attention.
This wasn’t He Hua’s first time in Fengling Town; it was her third visit.
She came back every hundred years. With each new generation, no one would recognize her.
She simply loved Fengling Town.
After reading the letter-length writing, He Sui’an formed an idea. Looking into He Hua’s eyes, she didn’t want to disrupt her peaceful life. She slowly rolled up the paper and burned it.
The flames consumed the words that couldn’t be seen by others lest they consider her a monster, turning them into ashes.
He Sui’an took He Hua’s hand.
“Perhaps it’s because the heavens thought your past life was too bitter that they granted you longevity.”
He Hua, hearing this, covered her mouth and laughed.
How could that be possible?
—
He Sui’an stayed at the bookstore for over half an hour before leaving. As soon as she stepped out, she got into a carriage across the street. Inside sat Qi Buyan, with two snakes, one red and one black, coiled next to his boots.
In his palm lay an unknown small insect. When He Sui’an entered, he placed the insect near the lifted curtain, and it flew out.
Qi Buyan asked softly, “How did it go?”
She said, “Miss He Hua knows nothing about the ancient tomb and the Yin Corpse Gu.”
The young man tapped his knuckles on the small, carved yellowwood table in the carriage: “What did you ask her in the bookstore? Could you tell me everything?”
He Sui’an recounted everything.
The focus was on the content of the letter.
Fearing Qi Buyan might not believe He Hua, He Sui’an spoke on her behalf: “I believe Miss He Hua wasn’t involved in those matters and didn’t lie.”
If He Hua had been involved in the Yin Corpse Gu affair, she would deserve the appropriate punishment, given how many people in Fengling Town had died. But she wasn’t, and she shouldn’t bear an unfounded crime or punishment.
Qi Buyan’s eyes slightly lifted as he looked at He Sui’an.
He had a calm smile on his face: “She indeed didn’t lie.”
Before He Sui’an entered Jing Si Bookstore, Qi Buyan had placed a flying Gu on He Hua. If her thoughts and actions didn’t match, she would feel itchy all over. Obviously, she hadn’t.
Seeing he believed as well, He Sui’an breathed a sigh of relief.
If He Hua and Yan Luoxu were accomplices, Qi Buyan would surely kill her.
Yan Luoxu had once tried to kill Qi Buyan, and in return, Qi Buyan naturally wanted to kill her. But she had been rescued. If he encountered Yan Luoxu’s accomplice now, he would kill them.
It wasn’t about justice.
It was purely about revenge.
He Sui’an genuinely didn’t want He Hua to be implicated. He Hua had been kind to her, and she wanted to be kind to her in return. Even if they might never see each other again, she wanted He Hua to live well.
He Sui’an’s expression relaxed, visibly happier, and Qi Buyan noticed.
“Are you very happy?”
He raised his hand to lower the hanging curtain.
He Sui’an touched her face, not understanding why Qi Buyan asked her that. She asked in return, “Do I look happy?”
“Yes.” He replied nonchalantly, “I’m very sensitive to the emotional changes of people and Gu. I once had a Gu, and one day, after meeting someone, it seemed very happy too.”
She asked, “And then?”
“Then…”
Qi Buyan seemed to be reminiscing about the past: “Then it left with that person.”
He Sui’an didn’t expect that outcome: “But it was a Gu you raised. How could it leave with someone else? Doesn’t it only listen to you?”
After saying the latter part, she recalled that he had mentioned a Gu could follow the orders of a stronger Gu master and even turn against its own master. Given that, it indeed made sense for the Gu to leave with someone else.
So, He Sui’an, who wasn’t good at comforting people, said, “It’s okay, you still have many other Gu.”
“It’s gone, so it’s gone.”
The young man smiled stunningly and said, “You’re right.”
And so, he killed that Gu.
—
They didn’t return to the inn immediately but instead went to the largest restaurant in Fengling Town. Although the inn provided meals, He Sui’an had grown tired of eating the same food for several days in a row.
Going to a restaurant to try something new was not a bad idea. When Qi Buyan suggested eating at the restaurant in Fengling Town, she did not object and was quite looking forward to it.
The restaurant was called Xizi Tower.
Xizi Tower was very popular among the residents of Fengling Town, who liked to discuss matters there.
As soon as He Sui’an entered Xizi Tower, she was hit by a rich, fragrant smell of wine. The waiter asked if they wanted a private room or to eat in the main hall. Qi Buyan chose a table in the main hall on the first floor.
The menu was hanging in the middle of the hall. Customers could simply read out what they wanted to the waiter. She looked at Qi Buyan and asked, “What do you want to eat?”
He let He Sui’an choose.
So, she picked a few dishes herself.
The people at the next table were gossiping about the recent madness incident, sighing with relief that Fengling Town had crossed this hurdle.
All those who went mad were incurable. Two days ago, the authorities had gathered them all and burned them. The officials claimed they had a plague, and burning the bodies was the usual method of dealing with such cases.
The people of Fengling Town didn’t feel dissatisfied with this. Most were afraid of getting infected themselves and were relieved. Only those whose loved ones had gone mad were heartbroken and cried at the scene.
He Sui’an felt a sense of sadness.
Su Yang was a princess, and she knew the truth, but she hadn’t revealed it.
Perhaps she had her reasons for not speaking out, or maybe this was the best solution they could choose. He Sui’an wouldn’t spread it around, and others might not believe her anyway.
Qi Buyan summoned the waiter and asked some questions.
The waiter answered everything he asked, and Qi Buyan tipped him with some small silver coins.
He Sui’an’s attention was caught by the conversation at the next table, so she didn’t hear what Qi Buyan had asked the waiter. When she returned to her senses, she only heard Qi Buyan say that they would leave Fengling Town soon.
Leaving Fengling Town was something He Sui’an had anticipated. She knew the main reason Qi Buyan had left Gu Mountain and Tianshui Village was that he was searching for something, so she didn’t ask further.
This time, he had obtained the Yin Corpse Gu Queen.
What would he get next time?
The waiter brought their food to the table, and He Sui’an didn’t think too much, focusing instead on filling her stomach. She took her first bite, her eyes widening. The fish melted in her mouth, with the perfect balance of fat and lean, fragrant and not greasy.
Qi Buyan watched He Sui’an eat with great interest, as if watching her eat with relish was more intriguing to him than eating himself.
Anyone, in the throes of death, would appear somewhat unsightly.
Yet, to him, it was beautiful.
Sometimes he would fantasize about what He Sui’an might look like when she was on the brink of death, but Qi Buyan found himself unable to imagine it. It was as if he was used to her vibrant and lively demeanor in front of him.
Raising someone who could cry, laugh, and speak seemed to be a truly delightful thing, much more entertaining than raising Gu.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” He Sui’an’s voice pulled him back to reality.
Qi Buyan noticed she had nearly finished half the fish. He picked up his chopsticks and took a bite as well.
—
After their meal, they still didn’t return to the inn. They needed to buy some dry provisions and other items from the street.
Having been in Fengling Town for so long, He Sui’an hadn’t had much chance to explore the streets. Today, whenever she saw small, delicate trinkets at the stalls, she would stop and look.
They walked and stopped, buying quite a few things.
It was late by the time they returned to the inn.
The innkeeper, seeing them return, took out a letter from the counter and said it was left for them by a guest named Shen Jianhe, asking him to pass it on to them.
He Sui’an took the letter: “The guest who asked you to give us this letter, where did he go?”
Innkeeper: “He left.”
The unlucky tomb raider was gone. Was it true that Shen Jianhe claimed to look like his father?
The innkeeper had lived most of his life as a solitary man and had never experienced being a father.
Tomb raiders often had short lives.
He hoped the guest named Shen Jianhe would have a long life. The more he thought about it, the more he messed up his bookkeeping, eventually closing the ledger and going for tea.
It was a farewell letter.
He Sui’an read it.
There were only a few words on it. Shen Jianhe said that if they had the chance to meet again in the future, he would surely treat them to a drink. If not, they should just forget each other in the rivers and lakes.
He was a very carefree person.
